As the poll bugle has been sounded by the election commission for the 2024 General Elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked his cabinet colleagues to prepare a roadmap for the first 100 days of his anticipated third consecutive term at the helm. His second in command, home minister Amit Shah has set a lofty target of 400 seats for the ruling NDA (National Democratic Alliance) at the hustings. These are exercises in mind games of the highest order. It is a hallmark of psychological warfare. It is one thing to exude confidence and put faith in the people’s mandate but this type of pushy brouhaha is reeking of a bully on the playground. While such tactical demagogy is expected from the Modi-Shah duo, the self-proclaimed “mainstream” media, for instance, at the India Today conclave, claiming that the “opposition is absent” and prejudicially foretelling an election verdict even before a single vote is cast smacks of utter mockery of democracy.
A government so confident of victory should run on its track record. Yet Modi and Shah are bragging about parliament seats and victory margins without alluding to anything concrete they have done to alleviate the travails of the poor people. There are several fanciful names and schemes thrown around such as “Make in India”, “Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana”, “Vikasith Bharath”, etc. but no perceptible improvement in the living conditions of the people that need the government the most. In the make-believe world of Modi, we are to be enamoured in awe of the multi-trillion dollar economy that he has supposedly built and hyperventilate in the thrill of the country joining the ranks of the top five world economies.
Statistics and indices are doctored at will to make it look like Modi has........